Battles...

This training season is going to be a bit of a challenge for me...I can tell already. First of all, I've noticed that our workout schedule is not nearly as difficult as the Summer/Fall program. Even though the coaches are making my group add on mileage, there is virtually NO speedwork on the calendar. My last marathon training program had speedwork every Tuesday night - interval runs, hill repeats, and everyone's favorite...trackwork. This program has long runs on Saturdays and short runs on Wednesdays, with two additional short runs in between. And the additional short runs are just...runs. Last time they were progressive pace runs.

Don't get me wrong. I didn't actually DO all the stuff on the Summer/Fall schedule (slacker!). But, I did do a lot of it and for as much complaining as I did, it really paid off. And since the Pig is a hilly course, I'm looking to step it up this time, not take things down a notch. I'm guessing this training is scaled back a bit because it's a Cincinnati-based race, so the group has more locals who want to run their first marathon? And cheers to that - it's awesome to see so many people striving for 26.2.

That said, I've got to get some speedwork in on my own. Yesterday I treated myself to some hill repeats up and down Torrence Parkway. Bleh. It was a truly humbling experience - I could only do three repeats and I almost yakked on every jaunt up the hill. I have to wonder if I had a partner or a group around me if I would have been such a punk?

As for stuff like intervals and trackwork, I think I'm going to have to dust off the treadmill for these (ugh). I don't have a Garmin, so pacing myself on the road is tricky, which is possibly the ONE advantage of the hamster wheel - you always know how fast you're going and how long it took. I just don't know what else to do. I don't want to do speedwork on Sundays (the day after my long run) and I don't want to be trolling around the UC track or the Lunken bike path in the dark on a weeknight. Plus, snow and ice have made it difficult to run fast outside anyway (hmmm...maybe this was part of the problem with yesterday's hill repeats...).

So, we'll see what happens. My other "battle" this season is my diet. I originally said I was going to drink less and eat better. Yeah, I just got back from drinking a Guinness and eating a plate of cheese sticks. The good news is that when I do things like this, it really motivates me to not skip workouts. Although this is more so that my pants will fit and has less to do with my marathon goals. Sigh. What can I say? It's winter and I'm in hibernation mode...